Drainage tile



N. ACHEY Dec. 21, 1965 DRAINAGE TILE} Filed April 12, 1965 FIG. I

INVENTOR NORWOOD ACHEY ma ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,224,200DRAINAGE TILE Norwood Achey, W. Crest Road, Rossville, Ga. Filed Apr.12, 1963, Ser. No. 272,606 4 Claims. (Cl. 61-13) This invention relatesto sanitation, to the safeguarding of public health, and to apparatusand equipment utilized in the disposition or disposal of waste anddiscarded matter of a contaminating character in a manner not toendanger the health and welfare of human beings and animals.

The invention relates particularly to an improved drain tile for use inthe drain field of a septic tank system to dispose of waste matter frombuildings in a manner that the supply of water from wells and othersources will not become contaminated and present the resulting threat oftyphoid fever or other communicable diseases.

Heretofore, septic tanks have been provided with drain fields in which aseries of ditches have been dug on a down-grade from the septic tank anda layer of rock, cinders or gravel has been placed in such ditches andleveled at the proper pitch. Drain tile, which normally has generallyflat ends, is then placed in the ditches in end to end relation and aworkman manually spaces such tiles apart a predetermined distance inaccordance with local building codes, usually from one-quarter of aninch to three-quarters of an inch apart. Strips of waterproof buildingpaper are then placed over the joints and additional rocks or gravel areplaced on top of the tile to a predetermined depth after which theditches are filled. This procedure has been expensive, time-consuming,subject to human shortcomings, and sometimes the strips of buildingpaper have collapsed which resulted in the clogging of the drain fieldafter which it has been very difficult to locate and correct thecondition.

It is an object of the invention to overcome the difiiculties enumeratedand to provide a relatively simple, inexpensive drain tile which may beinstalled in a minimum of time with a minimum of effort by unskilledworkers and will satisfactorily perform its function for a long timewithout maintenance.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drain tile having endportions interfitting with the end portions of adjacent tiles and whichtile has slots or openings which encourage ready drainage and thereforegreater distribution of liquid throughout the drain field.

A further object of the invention is to provide a drain tile whichreduces the possibility of human error and which eliminates the need ofrocks, cinders or gravel on top of the tile.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingin which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a septic tank system using the tile of thepresent invention in the drain field;

FIG. 2, an enlarged side elevation of a series of tiles in abuttingrelation;

FIG. 3, an end elevation of one of the tiles; and

FIG. 4, a fragmentary bottom plan view thereof.

Briefly stated, the present invention is a tubular drain tile havingcooperating interfitting male and female ends which permit such tile tobe laid in end to end abutting relation and each tile has multiple slotssuch as a T-slot which allows proper drainage and distributes the fluidthroughout the drain field. The T-slot is arranged in such a manner thatthe point where the cross piece or transverse slot intersects the outerdiameter of the drain tile is substantially in alignment with thelowermost portion of the inner diameter so that the rock or gravelcovering is eliminated and the dirt covering cannot enter the tile.

3,224,200 Patented Dec. 21, 1965 With continued reference to thedrawing, a house or other building is supported on a foundation 10mounted on footings 11 and waste material is discharged from the housethrough a soil pipe 12. In urban areas the soil pipe is connected to acommunity sewage system and the waste matter from all of the buildingsin the area is processed in a sewage disposal plant. In rural and somesuburban areas the community sewers are not available and as a resultthe waste matter from each building must be disposed of it in a septictank system.

The septic tank system includes a septic tank 13 into which liquid andsolid waste matter are discharged from the soil pipe 12. The solidmatter sinks to the bottom of the septic tank where it decomposes andchanges its state from a solid to a liquid. If desired, chemicals may beadded to accelerate the decomposition of such solid matter. The liquidis discharged from the septic tank through a pipe 14 into an overflowtank 15 with such pipe 14 being at a slightly lower level than the inletsoil pipe 12. A series of drain lines 16 are connected to the overflowtank 15 and such lines may be disposed in substantially parallelrelation or may extend substantially radially from the overflow tank andform a drain field. The drain lines 16 are connected to the overflowtank 15 at a slightly lower level than the pipe 14 and are located on aslight decline or pitch from the overflow tank to the outer extremity ofthe lines so that the liquid will flow through such lines by gravity.

Each of the drain lines 16 comprises a plurality of individual draintiles 17 of substantially cylindrical crosssection and with relativelythick walls. Each tile has a male end including a tapered extremity 18and a female end having a tapered recess 19 for cooperative engagementwith the extremity 18 of a contiguous tile. The drain tiles preferablyare constructed of clay, cement or other abrasive material so that whenthe drain lines are formed with the individual tiles in abuttingrelation the abrasive engaging surfaces of the interfitting male andfemale ends will provide sufficient friction to resist rotary motionbetween adjacent tiles when the ditch in which they are placed isfilled.

In order to permit drainage of the liquid in the drain lines, each tileis provided with multiple recesses such as, for example, a T-shaped slot20 in one end with such slot being positioned along the bottom portionof the drain lines. The T-shaped slot includes a stem or longitudinalslot 21 extending lengthwise of the tile and a cross or transverse slot22 extending around the periphery thereof. The outer extremities of thetransverse slot 22 preferably intersect the periphery of the tile at apoint substantially level with the internal radius of such tile. Inother words, an imaginary line 23 drawn transversely of the tile wouldbe tangential to the internal radius of the tile and would intersect theexternal radius at a point where the transverse slot terminates. Thisconstruction permits the tiles to be laid end to end in abuttingrelation in a ditch after which the ditch can be filled with earth anddue to the relationship between the outer extremity of the slot and theinternal radius of the tile the earth which is deposited around thedrain lines will not enter such slot and cause clogging of the lines.

In the operation of the device a conventional septic tank and overflowtank are constructed after which a drain field is provided for disposingof waste liquids. The drain field is constructed by digging a pluralityof ditches and partially filling the ditches with rocks, gravel or thelike to a predetermined level and at a proper downward slope. Drain tileare then placed in the ditches in end to end abutting relation and theditches are then filled with earth. Due to the material and theconstruction of the individual drain tiles such tiles will resist rotaryor lengthwise movement during the filling of the ditch so that suchtiles will remain substantially in the same position in which they arelaid. Each tile has a slot which permits the discharge of fluid carriedby the drain lines and such slots are arranged in such a manner thatthey encourage distribution of the liquid throughout the entire drainfield.

It will be apparent that a relatively simple, inexpensive drain tile isprovided having end portions interfitting with the end portions ofadjacent tiles and which tile has multiple recesses in the shape of aT-slot which encourages ready drainage and greater distribution ofliquid. Likewise, the tiles of the present invention help reduce theinitial cost by eliminating the need of rocks, cinders or gravel on topof the tile.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various changes may bemade in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in the drawing and described in the specification, but onlyas indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A generally tubular drain tile having a tapered extremity at one endand a tapered recess at the opposite end, the tapered extremity of onetile cooperatively engaging the tapered recess of an adjacent tile, aT-shaped opening located adjacent one end of said tile, said T- shapedopening including a transverse portion extending around the periphery ofthe tile to a position such that an imaginary line drawn through theterminal lines of intersection with the external periphery is tangentialwith the internal periphery of said tile.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said tile is constructed ofabrasive material so that contiguous tiles may be placed in end to endabutting relation and will be frictionally held in such position.

3. A generally tubular drain tile having relatively thick walls, saidtile having means on each end for interfitting engagement withcontiguous tiles, a T-shaped slot in each tile and disposed on thelowermost portion of said tile when installed, said T-shaped slotincluding a longitudinal slot and a transverse slot, said transverseslot terminating in a position such that an imaginary line drawn betweenthe ends of such transverse slot is tangential to the internal peripheryof said tile.

4. In a septic tank system having a septic tank, a drain field includinga plurality of drain lines, each drain line comprising a series of draintiles of substantially cylindrical cross-section and having relativelythick walls, each tile having an outwardly tapered portion on the endand a cooperating inwardly tapered recess on the opposite end forcooperative engagement with the extremities of contiguous tiles, each ofsaid tiles having a T-shaped slot adjacent to one end for dischargingliquid into the drain field, said T-shaped opening including atransverse portion extending around the periphery of the tile to aposition such that an imaginary line drawn through the terminal lines ofintersection with the external periphery is tangential With the internalperiphery of said tile.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,832,967 11/1931Craig 61l3 2,898,741 8/1959 Milliken 6111 FOREIGN PATENTS 600,929 7/1960 Canada.

95,200 12/ 1897 Germany.

REUBEN FRIEDMAN, Primary Examiner.

D. M. RIESS, Assistant Examiner.

3. A GENERALLY TUBULAR DRAIN TILE HAVING RELATIVELY THICK WALLS, SAIDTILE HAVING MEANS ON EACH END FOR INTERFITTING ENGAGEMENT WITHCONTIGUOUS TILES, A T-SHAPED SLOT IN EACH TILE AND DISPOSED ON THELOWERMOST PORTION OF SAID TILE WHEN INSTALLED, SAID T-SHAPED SLOTINCLUDING A LONGITUDINAL SLOT AND A TRANSVERSE SLOT, SAID TRANSVERSESLOT TERMINATING IN A POSITION SUCH THAT AN IMAGINARY LINE DRAWN BETWEENTHE ENDS OF SUCH TRANSVERSE SLOT IS TANGENTIAL TO THE INTERNAL PERIPHERYOF SAID TILE.